The inaugural Women’s Tour of Scotland ended in a field sprint on day two with Emma White sprinting to a hard-fought second place and moving into the Best Young Rider jersey. White was protected by her teammates on the slippery country roads into Perth and launched her sprint from 200 meters, narrowly missing out on victory. She now heads into the Edinburgh finale only four seconds down in the overall.
“I’m really pleased with second after all the hard work the team put in,” said White. “We were chomping at the bit after yesterday’s cancellation so to deliver a result at the end of a hard day is very satisfying.”
After the abandonment of stage 1 due to floodwaters, the peloton was eager to get racing underway and the pace never let up. Krista Doebel-Hickok made a vital split over the Duke’s Pass QOM during the 139 km stage.
“It was such an awesome, hard race today,” said Doebel-Hickok. “I covered a dangerous move over the QOM to make sure we were represented but it nearly came apart when another rider crashed in front of me on a wet switchback.”
Doebel-Hickok was outnumbered by riders on the Bigla Pro Cycling team four-to-one so Katherine Maine and Gillian Ellsay took control of the peloton behind, narrowing the gap to the breakaway and protecting White’s chance at the stage victory.
“It was a tough day and the girls rode really well,” said team director Zach Bell. “Everyone was super motivated after yesterday and they showed up ready to take ownership of the race.”
The final remnants of the day’s breakaway were caught inside 10 km to go and the sprinter’s teams came to the fore. White surfed the leadout trains before starting her sprint from 200 meters out.
Your @DeloitteUK_Scot best young rider @emmabeancx @RallyUHCcycling 👏🏻 #WTOS pic.twitter.com/OtiBma1ZDQ
— Women’s Tour of Scotland (@womenstourscot) August 10, 2019
The stage 3 finale into Edinburgh features three ascents of the Arthur’s Seat QOM before descending four kilometers to the finish. Rally UHC Cycling will look to defend White’s position in the overall and seize any opportunity for bonus seconds.
Stage 2 results
1 JACKSON Alison Team TIBCO – SVB 3:24:37
2 WHITE Emma Rally UHC Cycling Women “
3 BORGLI Stine Norway “
4 THOMAS Leah Bigla Pro Cycling “
5 DE GAST Belle Parkhotel Valkenburg “
6 SANGUINETI Ilaria Valcar Cylance Cycling “
7 ROBERTS Jessica Great Britain “
8 PARKINSON Abby-Mae Drops “
9 FISHER-BLACK Niamh Torelli Sport “
10 BUJAK Eugenia BTC City Ljubljana “
GC standings after stage 2
1 JACKSON Alison Team TIBCO – SVB 3:24:27
2 WHITE Emma Rally UHC Cycling Women 0:04
3 BORGLI Stine Norway “
4 THOMAS Leah Bigla Pro Cycling 0:07
5 BUJAK Eugenia BTC City Ljubljana 0:08
6 NA Ahreum Alé Cipollini 0:09
7 DE GAST Belle Parkhotel Valkenburg 0:10
8 SANGUINETI Ilaria Valcar Cylance Cycling “
9 ROBERTS Jessica Great Britain ”
10 PARKINSON Abby-Mae Drops “
Best Young Rider classification after stage 2
1 WHITE Emma Rally UHC Cycling Women 3:24:31
2 ROBERTS Jessica Great Britain 0:06
3 PARKINSON Abby-Mae Drops “
